With Clayton Kershaw announcing his retirement, I finally found the motivation to answer the question: “Who’s left from the 2007 draft?”
Without too much more drama, here’s the list after my overly-extensive investigation:
* Justin Verlander (Drafted 8th round, 91st overall)
* Rich Hill (Drafted 26th round, 312th overall)
* Andrew McCutchen (Drafted 31st round, 36th overall)
That’s it. Three members left. All very much so ticking there clocks.
Now, I did not account for players that had the same names, or players who did not accrue any MLB stats in 2025, but are not officially retired. But, I don’t think that list is particularly long, nor do I think those players are likely in the same league as the ones above. So, until I’m proven otherwise, these three names are going to be the ones I keep an eye out for when it comes to officially closing the curtain for the entire 2007 draft.
I did come across something that I thought was a tad more interesting during this investigation.
Not wanting to leave any stone un-turned, I double checked each name that registered “no stats” between 2007 and 2025. After correcting some typos and name formats, I was left with a list of 25. And taking it a step further, I dug a little into some of the players careers. These are the least of the least from that first draft. The players who never amounted to anything of note in the CPL. The ones who never threw in inning or took an at bat at the pros. But, I dunno, something about them intrigued me.
As a result, I am kicking off a short series that will cover a brief review of these 25 brave souls. Starting with:
Adam Miller: Highly touted pitching prospect that never could stay healthy. Pitched from 2006 through 2015 with several sizable gaps in playing time, but just could never stay healthy enough to breakthrough to the majors.
Chuck Lofgren: Ranked as the #2 prospect in the Cleveland Indians organization in 2007 and 2008, his results never matched his draft pedigree. After his first minor league season he never had a single season on the mound that had both a K/9 above 7 and a BB/9 below 4, showcasing his inability to get strikeouts and limit walks at the same time, consistently trading one outcome for the other. A fearsome two-way player in High School he returned as a two-way player in his final two seasons, but unfortunately had even worse results with the bat than he did the ball.
Jim Ed Warden: Drafted in the 6th round, Jim Ed Warden was ranked as the #17 prospect in the Indians organization circa 2002. He did not reappear on the prospect radar until 2007, now with the Phillies, as the 25th ranked prospect and a rule V pick, but apparently he did not stick, never accruing any stats for the Phillies. Returned to the Indians he pitched well as a reliever in AA, before struggling in AAA. Repeating this pattern with two more organizations, he joined independent ball to great success before retiring to spend more time with his family. (https://www.somdnews.com/archive/sports/warden-to-say-goodbye-to-blue-crabs-on-saturday/article_ec6eb78b-1ebf-5451-ab64-7728420a7332.html)
Larry Broadway: Ranked the #17 prospect in the Nationals system in 2007, Broadway played ball in AAA until 2009, where after suffering two reoccurring injuries, he decided to retire and become a scout. (https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Larry_Broadway)
Mark Prior: One of the most exciting young and upcoming pitchers as of 2005. Threw last pitch in majors in 2006. Pitched in minors in 2013. Just never could find that magic from his early 20s.
We’ll see if I ever get around to the remaining 20.
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